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Early lifw
Miriam Zenzi Makeba- Early Life: 1) Miriam Zenzi Makeba was born in Johannesburg on March 4th, 1932 2) Zenzi means you have no one to blame but yourself, and it was a traditional name intended to provide support through life's difficulties. 3) She began her lifelong struggle at the age of two weeks when she served a six-month jail term with her mother. 4) Her mother was arrested for selling umqombothi, an African homemade beer brewed from malt and cornmeal. 5) Later the family moved north to Transvaal, where her father, Caswell, worked as a clerk for Shell. 6) Her mother was a spiritual healer who also took jobs as a housemaid. 7) After the early death of her father, Miriam was forced to work as a domestic servant for white females. 8) But she had already noticed that music could elevate her from the poverty that surrounded her. As a young girl, her singing had been praised at the Methodist Training School in Pretoria. 9) But what should have been the highlight of her amateur career turned to disappointment. She had been due to sing What a Sad Life for a Black Man for the visit of King George VI, but after the children had stood waiting in the rain, the royal visitor drove by without stopping to hear them. 10) Makeba gave birth to her daughter Bongi at the age of 17 and was then diagnosed with breast cancer, which was treated unconventionally, but successfully, by her mother. The first of her five husbands left her shortly after. 11) Her professional career began in the 1950s when she was featured in the South African jazz group the Manhattan Brothers, and appeared for the first time on a poster. 12) She then left the Manhattan Brothers to record with her all-woman group, The Skylarks, singing a blend of jazz and traditional melodies of South Africa. 13) As early as 1956, she released the single "Pata Pata",which was played on all the radio stations and made her known throughout South Africa. 14) She had a short-lived marriage in 1959 to Sonny Pillay, a South African singer of Indian descent. Her break came in that year when she had a short guest appearance in Come Back, Africa, an anti-apartheid documentary produced and directed by American independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin. 15) The short cameo made an enormous impression on the viewers and Rogosin managed to organize a visa for her to attend the premier of the film at the twenty-fourth Venice Film Festival in Italy, where the film won the prestigious Critics' Award. 16) That year, Makeba sang the lead female role in the Broadway-inspired South African musical King Kong. 17) She made her U.S. debut on 1 November 1959 on The Steve Allen Show. 18) In 1960, while on tour in the US, Makeba was denied a visa to return home for her mother's funeral. The white South African Government then cancelled her citizenship to punish her for speaking out against apartheid at the United Nations. 19) Her call for an end to apartheid became increasingly powerful, particularly after the Sharpeville massacres, and her recordings were banned in South Africa. 20) Her marriage to Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael caused a storm of controversy in the US. The couple was harassed by FBI and CIA officials. Makeba's concerts were cancelled by tour promoters, and ultimately forced into exile. They settled in Guinea where they have lived for 15 years. 21) However, it was because of this dedication to her home continent that Miriam Makeba became known as Mama Africa and a leading symbol in the struggle against apartheid. ' ' ' ' 1932: Born Johannesburg, South Africa 1959: Stars in the jazz opera King Kong and anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa, met Harry Belafonte 1960: Barred from South Africa 1963: Testifies against apartheid at the United Nations 1966: Becomes the first African woman to win a Grammy award 1968: Marries Black Panther Stokely Carmichael and moves to Guinea 1985: Moves to Brussels after her child Bongi dies in childbirth 1990: Returns to South Africa after personal request from Nelson Mandela 2005: Begins a "farewell tour" of the world that lasts three years 2008: Dies in Caserta, Italy following a concert, aged 76